When working on small products, microscopies are typically employed. The microscope must be properly and firmly positioned in order to be of convenience. A modern-day work space microscope stand is typically a weighted base. The base is up to 12 inch square in order to provide stability. The typical base weighs about 35 pounds in order to provide this stability. Such a base stands on the work surface and, thus, occupies as much as 1 square foot of work station space. The adjustment of such an arm is accomplished by loosening two hand knobs and manually pulling the arm to the desired position, followed by clamping the two hand knobs. This is two-handed operation of the arm, which makes for difficulty when a hand is also needed otherwise in the positioning operation. Such arms are often used for the mounting and positioning of a microscope, which may be a binocular zoom microscope which requires manual operation of both the focus and the zoom. To position the microscope correctly, focus and zoom must be adjusted while the microscope is put into position, in order to ascertain that the position is correct.
A fully positionable supporting arm, which is mounted on a small post, provides safety because there is no danger of tipping of the structure when it is fully extended. Safety is also enhanced by the proper positioning of the arm, especially when it carries such a device as a microscope, to eliminate neck and back fatigue. The proper positioning of the binocular eyepieces in a microscope reduces eye fatigue and parallax errors and are achieved when the microscope is maintained in the correct position with respect to the work surface and the work piece. It is also convenient to have a support arm which can be moved away with a single motion so that the structures supported on the arm do not interfere with access to the work station surface. In addition, proper design of a movable supporting arm will accommodate a person of any size without having to purchase special equipment, such as benches or chairs of differing height. These are desirable results which can be achieved by a proper movable supporting arm.